Simmonds Lumber, one of Australia’s largest timber importers, is to use techniques akin to human DNA fingerprinting to help pinpoint the exact source of the wood it uses.
Current systems for identifying the source of timber mainly involve tagging and certificates of origin but, as these can be forged, they can undermine the impact of efforts to cut out illegal logging.
It is believed that 80% of the timber coming out of Indonesia is produced illegally and, as such, WWF has said that the use of DNA testing will help cut this.
The Australian federal government has also unveiled an A$200m initiative to help combat deforestation and promote sustainable wood management in developing countries.
